


Protecting Penelope

by EideticPrettyBoySpence



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:13:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26134018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EideticPrettyBoySpence/pseuds/EideticPrettyBoySpence
Summary: This story takes place during 11x8
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	Protecting Penelope

When you work for the BAU time goes by so fast it's hard to keep track sometimes. Before I knew it Spencer and I have been married for an entire year and Penny was almost four years old. We've always loved Halloween and have had couples costumes every year since we first started dating. This year we thought it would be funny to dress up as a zombie bride and groom since it was our first Halloween since we had gotten married. We had ordered our costumes from Amazon in September, and they've been hanging in our closet since they arrived. We loved everything about October, from the pumpkin patches to the corn mazes, from the haunted houses to dressing up.

We always put our decorations up in September and didn't take them down until the day after Thanksgiving. Then we decorated for Christmas, which stayed up until January second. I had hated decorating for Valentines Day until I fell in love with him. I always thought it was a stupid holiday, but he always made it feel so special. Really the only major holiday we never decorated for was Thanksgiving.

On the morning of our anniversary I was woken up by Penny jumping into bed with me. I sat up and held her in my lap, kissing her cheek softly and smiling at my husband. He was holding a tv tray with French toast, scrambled eggs and coffee on it and he laid it down on the bed as he sat next to me. He cupped my face in his hands and kissed me until I was completely breathless before pulling away. Then he kissed my forehead softly and the top of our daughter's head. She climbed into his lap as he smiled adoringly over at me.

"Good morning, Mrs. Reid. Happy Anniversary, little girl."

"Good morning, Dr. Reid. Happy Anniversary" even after a year, hearing that still thrills me.

"Time flies when you're saving lives. Eat your breakfast, babe. JJ, Will and the boys will be here by eleven. We're going to choose our pumpkins and go apple picking. Then after we eat dinner somewhere I'm taking you to Cornstalkers Trail of Terror."

"That's where we went for our first Halloween together," I smile fondly at the memory.

After I finish eating Spencer had already finished cleaning the kitchen. I was about to wash my dishes and put them away when Spencer walked in and took them from me. He told me to go relax in the living room and we'd watch Dr Who for a while. He joined me after he washed the dishes, sitting down and pulling me against his chest. At ten o'clock we decided to get into our costumes and makeup. We thanked JJ and Will for watching Penny, and drove to the pumpkin patch. When we had finished choosing our pumpkins- plus one for Penny of course- and our apples, we had pumpkin cupcakes and hot chocolate. Neither of us like apple cider all that much.

We decide to go to Chipotle before we went to Cornstalkers, and everyone complimented our costumes. A lot of girls would want something fancy and elaborate for an anniversary dinner but it didn't matter to me where we ate. Chipotle was delicious and I was with the man I loved- I couldn't ask for anything else. Besides, we would have gotten weird looks showing up to a fancy restaurant in full costume and makeup. Spencer asked if he could make an announcement, and everyone cheered when he said it was our anniversary. 

When we got to Cornstalkers and got through the line, we headed straight for the corn maze. We only got lost a few times, and we got tshirts for making it through in less than two hours. Something weird about me is that when I get scared I don't scream, and I don't have the typical response of either fight or flight. No, when I get scared enough, I start to cry. It's been that way ever since my first time at a haunted house when I was twenty-one. I'm not sure why I do, and I was embarrassed the first time Spencer saw. But he just held me and stroked my hair until I stopped crying, and he didn't care if people were staring. Once we made it through The Asylum, and I had calmed down enough, Spencer took my hand and led me somewhere. I didn't recognize it at first but then it dawned on me.

"We had our first real kiss in this exact spot. Not a kiss because you thought you lost me, but a kiss because I loved you and wanted to kiss you. It was seven years ago right- now," Spencer glanced at his watch before pulling me into his arms and kissing me. 

I chuckled softly after finally pulling away from the kiss. Spencer's makeup was smudged from sweat and our kiss, and I had to assume mine was too. We walked back to the car hand-in-hand and drove back to the city, stopping at an all-night store to get candy. Spencer always made sure that we had a big bag of Butterfinger and one of Reese's Pieces. We may have been 'too old' to go trick-or-treating, but that wasn't going to stop me from getting my fix. Finally we drove back home and walked up the stairs and down the hall to our apartment. When we opened the door we saw the boys and Penny curled up on the couch sound asleep, still in their Halloween costumes.

"Hey guys, thanks for watching her. Did they have fun trick-or-treating?"

"Oh yeah, they had a blast. We ordered pizza and binged old horror movies."

Most parents of an almost four-year-old would be horrified if they heard that. But Penny is already like her father and I- even if a movie scares her, she doesn't get nightmares. In fact, she absolutely loves the classics: the Halloween movies and the Friday the Thirteenth movies are her favorite. I was skeptical the first time she watched the first few with us, but she was obsessed. We said goodbye to JJ and Will as they scooped up the boys and their candy. Then we put Penny to bed and went to sleep after getting our makeup off.

"Goodnight, little girl," Spencer pulled me against his chest. "Happy Anniversary, I love you."

"I love you, too," I replied. "Goodnight, Spence."

-present day-

A few months later Penelope tells us that she's being targeted by an underground hitman group called the Dirty Dozen. So Hotch comes up with a plan to take them down, starting with a woman called the Black Widow. She lures unhappily married men in under the guise of killing their wives, then takes them to a secondary location to kill them. As soon as Hotch tells us the plan I slap a hand on the table.

"Hi, table for two for Spencer. Can you guys hear me?"

JJ, Rossi and Hotch affirm that they can hear him as our boss walks into the batcave. He squeezes my shoulder as he walks past me to look over Penelope's shoulder. The hostess leads Spencer to a table near the bar and he sits down. I nibble my lip nervously as we wait for this mystery woman to arrive. Then Spencer speaks again, and I can see the smile on his face and hear it in his voice.

"I can practically feel your nervousness, little girl; take a few deep breaths for me."

"God I hate profilers sometimes," I tease him.

I listen to my husband and take a few deep breaths, feeling my heartbeat slow a little. Time seems to crawl by as we wait for the time that the woman said she would show. Finally a gorgeous brunette walks into frame and stops by his table. I only saw her face for a moment, but she was beautiful. Of course she was, she has to be to lure in her prey. I hear her speak, asking one simple question.

"Spencer?"

"Cat?"

"Hi."

"Hi."

"Hello. Hi. Hi."

"Nice to finally-"

Spencer stands up to greet the woman- Cat- and she reaches to hug him; she gets as far as putting one hand on his shoulder before he stops her and pulls back. I see her face fall with a mix of confusion and rejection as he steps away from her.

"Oh- sorry, I have a, uh- kind of a germ thing. I'm kind of weird with hu-hugs."

"Sorry. Can I sit down?"

"Yes, please. Oh, yeah. Of course. Sit down."

"First time doing this, huh?"

"Yeah. I mean, yeah."

"Yeah, I-I still get nervous, too. Really, it wasn't until an hour ago that I was like, wait, we've been trading emails back and forth, but I still have no idea what this guy looks like."

"Hence the-" Spencer points to the rose.

"I know. And then I was like, wait, he's going to bring a red rose, so we need to go to a nicer place, which is why I switched the restaurant last-minute-"

"Not-not a problem at all."

"And now I need to change and put something nice on for this place, 'cause I was totally underdressed. And my whole wardrobe makes me look like a Kardashian. You don't know who that is, do you?"

"No, oh, yeah, Robert Kardashian. He got O.J. Simpson off. You-you don't look like his daughters."

"Yeah, no, I was making a joke. A bad one."

"No, it was good. It was a good joke."

"No, it wasn't."

"It was funny."

"Can we start over? Hi. I'm Cat."

"Hi-hi, I'm-" he chuckles. "I'm Spencer."

"It really is nice to meet you. In person, finally."

I had closed out the video feed on my laptop and rolled my chair over to Penelope. I needed to be closer to my best friend if I was going to get through this with my sanity and self-esteem in tact. I trust Spencer and I know this is just an act, but I don't trust this bitch as far as I can throw her. Which admittedly isn't very far since I'm so small, but that's completely beside the point.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Tell me a little bit about yourself. Do you really have three Ph.D.'s?"

"Yes. Um, I-yeah, I do. I have three Ph.D.s," he replies.

"What was your favorite book you read last year?"

"Um, honestly, I've never read a book I didn't love."

"Tell me about your wife."

"If you don't mind, I'd, um, I'd rather not talk about her."

"Might as well get it out in the open, right? That's why we're here. How long have you been married?"

"Four years."

"When is she due to give birth?"

"Uh, a couple of-a couple of months. Should we talk about price now, or..."

"Slow down, tiger. What exactly are we negotiating here?"

"You know."

"I want to hear you say it."

"To have her killed," he whispers, choked up.

"Let me see your ring. You know what that is? A noose," Cat takes his hand and runs her thumb along his ring. "Only it doesn't kill you all at once. It kills you slowly. Day by day. You ever feel that way?"

"I feel that way all the time."

"Take it off."

"Why?"

"As a sign of your commitment to me."

Spencer takes off his ring and places it in Cat's hand. I have to choke back a sob- we promised never to take them off. But I know he had no choice, he had to make her believe he was on her side. My gut boils with anger as I watch the brunette studies the ring I designed.

"If she sticks to pattern, she'll take him to a secondary location and kill him," JJ's voice comes over comms.

"We're not gonna let it get that far," Rossi replies.

"Promise me you won't let her hurt him, Dave," I whisper softly.

"I promise, principessa. Hotch, do you have a visual?"

"All right, we-we have you over her left shoulder. Do you copy?" Hotch replies. "All right, all agents stand by. Dr. Reid will give you the green light. Don't move until we have it."

"24-karat?" Cat asks.

"Mm-hmm."

"24K times... four years means this ring should be dinged and nicked. But the sucker is brand-new. You're not married."

I hear a gun being cocked and I have to dig my nails into my palm to keep quiet. I know she won't want to make a scene in a crowded restaurant, and she'll still stick to plan. Which means JJ and Rossi have time to get her when Spencer gives the green light. I just have to wait for him to speak up, my heart beating in my ears. My eyes prick with tears as I watch her face turn into a cold mask of what it was.

"What was that? Was that what I think it was?" Penelope asks.

"Hotch!"

"Everybody hold."

"Why are we here, Spencer?" Cat asks.

"We're here because you belong to a network of four hitmen who've been operating in the shadows of the internet. You're known as Miss .45. My team and I, including my wife, have been hunting you for months, and I knew that if I boxed you in, I could arrest you with as little resistance as possible. See, the thing is, I am married. We just celebrated our one-year anniversary on Halloween."

"Your team being the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI? You guys are good. You're the only ones that got close to us. But we got kind of close to you, too, didn't we? Hi, Penelope," Cat speaks directly to my best friend. "Do you know why I'm so good at my job?"

"Because you kill without compunction or remorse," Spencer answers.

"That only gets a girl so far in life. No, it's because I think through every potential outcome and then I plan accordingly. You see, I didn't walk into your trap. You walked into mine. Where's your head, Spencer? What are you thinking about?"

"I was thinking about entropy. It's the thermodynamic measure of the degradation of matter and energy in the universe. To put it another way-" his voice cuts off as Cat reaches slowly for his gun.

"There's your gun."

"Good evening," a waiter walks over.

"Hi, uh, you know what? We've been having so much fun getting to know one another, we'll let you know when we're ready, okay? Thank you. Now that we got that out of the way, will you do me a favor and tell blonde McBlonderson over there at the bar to disappear?"

"JJ, stand down," Hotch orders.

"Hotch, we can't let her take him out of there," I snap in fear.

"Thanks for playing, sweetie," Cat says to JJ as she walks past.

"If she learns how many agents we have outside, she'll start shooting. Dave, get ready to take her out. Reid, do not let her get up from the table," Hotch says.

"All right, you're in charge. Tell me what you want and I'll see if I can get it here for you," Spencer tells Cat.

"Anything I want?" Cat asks.

"Anything you want."

"Like a million dollars in unmarked bills. Maybe a plane to Aruba?"

"Is that what you want?"

"And you'll say you'll bring it here, but the real plan is to distract me from what is, I'm sure, an impressive law enforcement response just outside that door. Is that the plan?"

"That's the plan."

"Okay, let's talk, but let's talk about something interesting, at least. Tell me about me."

"You? You're a black widow hitwoman. You specialize in seduction, and you're patient. You learn everything you can about the men you're hired to kill, physically, psychologically, and emotionally, because you want them in as compromised a position as possible so they don't see it coming when you pull the trigger."

"And when I do it really well, they pull the trigger themselves. Give me your phone."

"Why?"

"Because I know what I want now. I want to play a game with you. You like games?"

"I do," Spencer replies.

"Do you win?"

"I always win."

"Give it to me. Okay, here's my game. You have thirty minutes to answer every question I ask. And if you lie, I'll know. Because I've spent the last ten years of my life studying men and their lies before I kill them. Do you believe me?"

"I do."

"That was true. You're getting this. Now, here's how we'll know who wins at the end of thirty minutes. If you win, you'll drag me out of here in handcuffs. But if I win, you will escort me out, like a gentleman, to make sure I exit safely. What do you say, Spencer?"

Spencer leans in closer to whisper to the brunette, gesturing her closer. "Considering everything you've put Garcia and so many people through, you're gonna have to shoot me in the face before you walk out of here."

"Game on."

"Oh, boy," Penelope says.

"Spencer, please don't bait her!!" I snap softly.

"What do you want to ask me?" Spencer ignores me.

"How you found me, of course. A professional learns from her mistakes."

"We got our big break in the case at the end of last year. I didn't learn how big until my wife and I came back from some time off."

"Why'd you take time off?"

-three weeks ago-

Spencer and I had just landed in D.C. after visiting Diana in Vegas for a week. Naturally the first place we went was Derek's place, after dropping our stuff off at home. When we pulled up to the house and walked up to ring the doorbell, his girlfriend Savannah opens the door and shoots us a warm smile. She steps back and lets us inside, standing on tiptoes to wrap Spencer in a hug then hugs me as well.

"Hey, you guys!"

"Hi!"

"Welcome back. Come in."

"Thank you."

"I know you're not a hugger," Savannah tells Spencer. "I don't care."

"Hey, get your greasy hands off my girl," Derek calls as he walks over. "Nice to have you home, guys."

"Nice to be back."

"Let me get my stuff."

"That thing you called about, here's some updated stats," Savannah hands Spencer a manilla envelope.

"Thanks."

"Stats? Stats on what?" Derek asks.

"Medical research. Shop talk. Things you wouldn't be interested in."

"Well, I can tell you what I am interested in and that is you."

"You gonna love me forever?"

"Yes, I am."

"Forever ever?"

"Forever, ever, ever."

"Guys, Garcia and Hotch need us ASAP for a briefing on the four hitmen," Spencer interrupts.

"Stop," Cat interrupts.

"What?"

"You didn't tell me why you took time off."

"It's not relevant."

"That's not the game. The game is you answer every question I ask. Is it a secret?"

"No."

"Is it dirty?"

"No."

"Then tell me."

"It's not important to your story."

"Out of curiosity, is it me you don't want to tell or the people listening in?"

"Is this really how you want to spend your thirty minutes?"

"Yes. No. Okay, so you were saying you showed up for work that morning and..."

"We learned that someone unexpected decided to talk."

"And who would that be?"

-three weeks ago-

"Brian Cochran from the NSA. I've placed him on a 24/7 lockdown at USP Terre Haute," Hotch launches right in as Derek, Spencer and I walk into the round table room fifteen minutes later. "The Network has proven that they can kill anyone, anywhere, at any time, and now that they've targeted Garcia, we can't afford to lose another lead. Cochran used one of the hitmen to target DEA Supervisor Graff."

"But we can press him on that to get him to cooperate," Derek says.

"Well, fortunately, that won't be necessary. He had a breakdown in solitary confinement and he was already willing to make a deal."

"We need to go talk to him," Rossi says.

"Garcia and I already did. That is, we video-conferenced with him," I say.

"He was limited in what he could tell us about the hit people. He didn't know their names, but he did know all of their areas of expertise."

"How specific do they get? Most successful hitmen are basically just Swiss Army knives of murder."

"Well, take the O.G. hit guy who got us into this mess, Giueseppe Montolo. Remember him? He was a genius at making hits look like an accident. The others, depends on what you're looking for. Take the guy that's still out there, who's responsible for shooting poor Mr. Graff. He's known simply as The Sniper. He can make a t-zone shot from over two-thousand meters."

"Which means he's ex-military. Not necessarily ours, but he's definitely trained," Derek says.

"So who's number two?" Tara Lewis, the newest agent, asked.

"That would be The Chemist. He works with poison. He specializes in hits that don't leave a trace," Garcia replies.

"He sounds delightful," Rossi says. "What about number three?"

"That would be The Bomber. According to Cochran, he's responsible for this," I pull up a picture on the tv. "It's a chemical fire in Tianjin, China. Apparently a bureaucrat didn't pay his bribe on time."

"You know that's conspiracy theory garbage," JJ says.

"But what is credible is Cochran's insistence that he was trained by Mossad. Jack Garrett's following up on leads," Hotch replies.

"That leaves us with number four. The one with the highest body count of them all."

"And who's that?" Spencer asks.

"Me," Cat interrupts his story again.

"Yes."

"Wow. That was really impressive. Yeah, the way you just made all those brilliant deductions with all that information that was just handed to you on a silver platter. Quick question-are you guys really profilers or are you just lucky? Because this, what I'm about to say-is profiling. The reason you took time off from work was to deal with the same girl who broke your heart."

"No."

"The death of a parent, then."

"Nope." 

"Ah, hello! I'm getting close. It's mom or dad in the billiard room with the candlestick. Oh, you're mad at me, aren't you."

"Not even a little bit."

"Yes, you are. I can tell."

"No offense, but you're not really worth getting angry at."

"So you figured out what the four of us did, and then what?"

"We profiled that you operated as spokes on a wheel. Somehow it had to be centralized. How you got your jobs, who paid you. Somebody did all that for you."

"You found The Snowman, didn't you?"

-three weeks ago-

"Great. So who's this Snowman jagoff?" Rossi asks.

"Cochran says he's the IT expert. He's the key to the whole network," Hotch replies.

"But if he set it up, he's not just gonna tear it down because we ask nicely," Derek argues.

"He will, because he was kidnapped by one of the hitmen and held against his will in a safehouse."

"I wonder how that feels," Penelope says sarcastically.

"Even if they have him under duress, he's still gonna be impossible to find," JJ says.

"We will find him... with this."

"Woah, woah, woah. I'm confused. What just happened there?" Cat asks.

"When we arrested Cochran, we found a flash drive, one that gave us specific access to a specific shadow of the dark net, one we didn't even know existed," Spencer answers.

-three weeks ago-

Hotch asks Penelope and I to see what's on the flash drive. When we take it back to the batcave, Derek follows us. He hasn't left Penelope alone since he heard about the threat on her life. The way they love each other like brother and sister is adorable.

"Oh, put a ring on it before you decide to do that," Penelope says after a while.

"Oh, that's flashy," Derek says as a picture pops up. "It's certainly cocky."

"Yeah, it's smart, but it's risky. He's taking security flaws from his own code, and then exploiting them as another level of security. If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was having fun," I reply.

"He wouldn't do this if his life depended on it, unless he's young."

"Yeah, and based on this, like high school young," Penelope says.

"Garcia used the flash drive to find the website that Snowman set up for all of you. Once we had the website, we had geography, specifically the safehouse you were keeping him in," my husband continues. "So, we waited until shift change, when we knew we could take two of you down at once."

-three weeks ago-

After I finally tracked down the safehouse and hacked into Snowman's IP, we knew everything about him. We knew we were right- he was a high-schooler. As I hacked into his webcam to turn it on, Penelope wrote on a few pieces of paper. Once we pulled up the webcam on his laptop, she waved and held up the first. The message in its entirety said: 'Hello, Snowman. Or, should I say... hello, Barry Winslow. My name is Penelope. I work for the FBI. WE KNOW WHERE YOU ARE. We are coming for you. NOW. Get down!'

Rossi, JJ and SWAT breached the house and rescued Barry, taking out the Chemist and the Sniper at the same time. They brought him back to the BAU and he cooperated fully. He gave us everything he knew about the hitmen he works for.

"Well, well, well, you took the Chemist and the Sniper out of commission, huh?" Cat interrupts again.

"Did you know?" Spencer asks.

"I knew something was off. They didn't bid on some contracts. And this isn't the kind of job where you can take time off to be with your... mother? Is it your mom? It's gotta be your mom. Why'd you take time off from the FBI?"

"I'm not gonna tell you."

"That's my baby," I say with a smile.

"Spencer, why did you take time off from the FBI?" Cat asks again at the same time.

"You can ask me as many times as you want, and you can continue to waste your time, but I'm still not gonna tell you."

"Then you're cheating, and I don't like cheaters."

"You don't get everything you want just because you're pointing a gun at me under a table. You're not the first killer to point a gun at me. You're not even the first woman to point a gun at me. Sorry," I snicker softly at the tone in my husband's voice.

"You're really gonna take this all the way, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"So am I."

"Hotch!" I snap.

"Dave, go."

"Look at my face. Does it look like I'm bluffing?"

"I know you're not bluffing."

"I'm gonna ask you one more time. Before you say no, I want you to consider something," Cat messes with his tie, and a moment later the audio feed cuts off with a squeal. We still have eyes, but we can't hear what they're saying.

"She muffled the mic. We lost audio," I try to keep my voice even.

"I'll kill the fed walking towards me first," Rossi's mic picks up her voice. "A stationary target's easier to hit. After that, it's a free-fire zone."

"Fine, I'll tell you."

"Sorry, what was that?"

"I'll tell you. Rossi, stand down. Please."

"Rossi, don't you let her hurt him," I snap.

But my words go unheeded as Rossi turns and walks away. Now that JJ is gone, Cat is alone with Spencer, and a restaurant full of collateral damage. True, Derek and Tara are on the other side of the room, but they're too far away. Cat could easily shoot my husband before they have a chance to even draw their weapons. I have to trust that Spencer knows what he's doing. Even though this is one of the deadliest women we've dealt with. Penelope puts her hand over mine and squeezes it gently, noticing the change in my breathing.

"My mom has schizophrenia, and the doctor has changed her medication, which seemed to agitate her, so my wife and I went to the treatment center to help her," Spencer answers her question when Rossi is far enough away.

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"You just risked your life over mommy's pills?"

"It's the truth."

"It's part of the truth. You're holding something back. Here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna penalize you by adding ten minutes. And keep in mind that the only reason you're not dead right now is because I did learn something important."

"Oh, really? What's that?"

"Your backup. I flushed them out. It's just me and you now."

"Guess again, bitch," Tara and I say at the same time.

"So, when we left off, the score was you had two of our guys and the Snowman. You must have thought you were home free."

"No. If anything, the case was harder."

-three weeks ago-

"I can't tell you that much about him. It's not like we had a lot of heart-to-heart conversations while they handcuffed me to a computer."

We had finally gotten Barry back to the BAU and were talking to him in the round table room. He's just happy that we got him away from them. He promised to tell us everything he can to help us find the other players.

"Do you know any of their names?" Tara asks.

"No. But I know their bank accounts."

"How long do you think we have before the other two realized the network's been compromised?" Spencer asks.

"Two days, maybe. Uh, they like being independent contractors, so they always work jobs separately," Barry answers him. "And, uh, they rely on me to coordinate all their online traffic."

"Which we can help fake," Penelope says.

"Yeah. We have the facade covered on our end, but they also have back channel communications that I can't account for, especially the Bomber."

"Why him?" Rossi asks.

"I don't know. But all I know is when they would rotate watching over me, he never showed."

"I know why. He's paranoid. Most explosive experts are," JJ says. "Blow everything up, you live in fear that you're next."

"We need to lure out the hitwoman. If we can take her alive, she'll lead us to the Bomber," Hotch says.

"We have to give her a target worth coming out of hiding for," Derek adds.

"That means me, doesn't it?" Penelope asks.

"No," they both answer.

"Sir-"

"Garcia, that's not gonna happen," Derek says. "It's too dangerous to leave you out there exposed like that."

"You have a record of all the kills she was paid for?" Hotch asks.

"I have to records of everything," Barry answers.

"All right. Even a contract killer can have a victimology, a pattern of which she's not aware. We need to find that."

"But first we had to get the data that we needed from the Snowman. From that, we could start to build the profile that would lead us to you. When we knew what we were looking for, the pattern was obvious," Spencer tells Cat.

-three weeks ago-

When Penelope and I had dug up everything on the hitwoman, I took the files to Spencer and we waded through them. Then we brought three separate files to Hotch. Spencer hands them over as he starts to explain what we found.

"These three hits, they were all men who wanted to kill their wives."

"That's the oldest motivation in the book," JJ says. "Why- why are they special?"

"She took their money, and then killed the men who hired her."

"All three of them had children," Hotch says.

"Maybe children are the line hitmen won't cross?"

"The Chemist and the Sniper both performed jobs that involved families. Eh, theoretically, if the price is high enough, a hitman shouldn't have morals. I think these kills are personal to her. Personal enough to risk double-crossing her contract," Spencer argues.

"Because something similar happened to her," Hotch answers.

"And that's how we get her to come to the table. I pretend to be that kind of client."

"No, Hotch, absolutely not," I said, not caring if I get in trouble. "Find another way to get her."

"Nyssa, look at me," Spencer took my hand. "This is a good plan."

"Not if she kills you it's not! Spencer, please, don't do this."

"I already contacted her. We're meeting in a few days."

Wordlessly, I turn and run out of Hotch's office, covering my mouth with my hand. I run down the ramp and out the door, heading for the women's restroom outside the bullpen by the elevator. I fall to my knees in front of the toilet in the handicapped stall just in time to empty my breakfast into it. I don't even hear the door open, but a minute later I see Penelope's shoes out of the corner of my eye. My best friend squats next to me and holds my hair as I throw up again. Then I rub the back of my hand over my mouth and lean against the wall with a sigh. I can feel the panic trying to bubble up and I tap it back down at least for a little while. 

"Penny, you know I love you. It terrifies me that these people are after you. But we just got married last year, I- Cat Adam's victims have never survived. Once she has them trapped, that's it, they're dead. I can't lose him, or you, I just can't."

"You know Hotch won't let it get that far. We'll have eyes and ears on him the whole time."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll have to stay back in the batcave with you. I can't- if I'm in that restaurant, I'll kill her."

"Come on, let's go back in. Are you alright? Spencer's worried."

"Yeah, yeah- I'm fine. I think."

I wash my hands and rinse out my mouth, leaning on the sink for a minute. Then I nod and walk out of the restroom, where Spencer was leaning against the wall. He reaches out for me and I wrap my arms around him with a sob.

"Hey, little girl. Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not alright. I'm terrified. But I know I can't talk you out of this."

Spencer takes my hand and we walk back into Hotch's office. He pulls my back against him and wraps his arms around my waist. I bite my lip as unshed tears prick my eyes and I sniffle softly. I look over at Hotch with a small smile.

"I'm sorry, Hotch. I'm just scared is all."

"I know, Nyssa, it's okay."

"At least a few of us are going in undercover, right? Penelope already told me we'd have eyes and ears inside."

"Of course, Nyssa, JJ and Dave will be there. We'll have agents outside the restaurant too. You and Penelope will be listening the whole time. Don't worry, we'll keep him safe, I promise you. She won't get a chance to kill him. You trust me right?"

"Yeah, of course I trust you," I sigh softly. "Okay, when is this happening again?"

"Actually she just emailed again. It's happening tonight, she changed the venue though."

"Okay, if you think this is our best chance, then I guess we have no choice."

That evening Spencer comes into the batcave dressed for a fancy dinner. A pang of something like jealousy and fear hits me as I look at him for what could possibly be the last time. I trust my team with his life and mine, but it doesn't make it less terrifying. This woman is the deadliest we've dealt with in a very long time. Why did it have to be Spencer who lured her out of hiding? Hotch still wears his wedding ring, and Derek is gorgeous. Not that I want any of my family in danger, but this is the father of my child. I don't want her to have to grow up and wonder where Spencer is someday. I never want that to be a conversation we're forced to have. 

"Come here, little girl," Spencer interrupts my thoughts. "I'm going to be fine, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. You come back to me, you hear me? Come back to me and Penny, we need you."

"I'll come back to you, I swear. Listen to me, okay? No matter what I say or do tonight, I want you to remember something. Remember that it's all an act, and that I love you. You and Penny are the most important thing to me. But I have to do this, you know that, right?"

"I know, Spencer. But that doesn't make it less scary. But I'm sorry, you were saying?"

"How do we know that's gonna work?" Hotch asks.

"We don't. It's a calculated risk based on her M.O, which is categorically different than the men," Spencer replies.

"They're cold, clinical, long-distance. She's up close and personal," I say.

"She knows that she has to be more careful because she actually wants to kill her targets," Spencer covers my hands with his as I make a small noise of panic listening to the plan. "I'm going to pretend to be a husband that wants his pregnant wife dead."

"Well, I'd want to kill you if you told me that," JJ replies.

"Exactly. Then all we have to do is set the right meeting spot," Spencer says. "A bar or a restaurant we control so the odds are better of us taking her alive."

"And of you making it out of there unharmed," I cut in quickly.

"That's our best strategy. But there is one flaw," Hotch says.

"You. You're the flaw. You're not married and you don't have children," Cat says. We had gotten comms back up.

"Actually, I am married, and my wife and I have a gorgeous little girl. And I'm the also the person on my team that's the closest to your age, and I knew that if I lost control of the situation, you'd be more likely to negotiate with a peer."

"You have zero control here. None. I outflanked you from the beginning."

"Some of your moves were pretty obvious."

"Such as?"

"Such as showing up armed. Such as changing the venue at the last moment. "

"I needed a restaurant full of innocents in case this was a trap."

"If you really suspected that this was a trap, then why show up at all? Even when you first laid eyes on me, from the bar, from outside, from wherever you were, you should have seen through me, and kept on moving, but you didn't. You couldn't. Because you can't get to the man you really want to hurt. So you need to hurt any man who reminds you of him."

"That's kind of boilerplate psychology, isn't it? I'm just another girl with daddy issues."

"You'd be surprised how many killers do what they do because of their parents. If it's so boilerplate, why don't we test that theory? How hard did you look for him?"

"Very hard."

"And how disappointed were you when you realized that you will never find him? You needed some other outlet for your rage, and for a while this worked, but it also tripped you up. Can I tell you a little secret? Everything eventually falls apart. The trick is accepting when it's over."

"Except it ain't over, is it?" 

"Do you really think I'm just gonna let you walk out of here?"

"You profiled so much about me, except you forgot to ask the most important question," Cat replies to his question. Why would I make you sit here for thirty minutes?"

"Because you're stalling."

"Then you don't know me at all. Do you think I'd show up here without an escaped plan? Or is that what just another girl with daddy issues would do? Maybe if you hadn't fallen victim to your own gender bias- and, yes, all men have gender bias, even you, Dr. Reid- you would have recognized that your entire strategy was based on one faulty detail. Can you see it?"

"You're not here alone."

"And my partner? Less paranoid than you think."

"You planted a bomb in the building."

"We're on the move," JJ's voice comes over comms.

"I didn't. My job was to keep your entire team focused on us, so he could do what he does best," Cat answers him.

"Hotch, we've got interconnected C-4 charges down here."

"How many?" Hotch asks.

"There's six charges. They're connected to the city's gas line. She could take out the whole block."

"Hotch, we have to get him out of there!! Hotch, please, do something!!"

"There are innocent people here."

"Yes, there are. So let me remind you what we're playing for. Not only will I walk out of here, but you will make sure I leave safely. And from where I'm sitting... it looks like I've won. You need to pay attention to this part. I'm going to tell you the terms of my victory. I want you to move all of your backup away from this building. If I walk out of here and I see one cop, I will incinerate us all."

"I can't do that," Spencer says.

"Spencer!" I choke out.

"Spencer-" Cat begins.

"It's not me. What you're asking takes time."

"This is to whoever's in charge. Unless you guys want to be responsible for the biggest FBI disaster since Waco, you will back off now."

"Hotch! We have to get SWAT out of there. Not just for Spencer's sake. There's civilians in there."

"JJ, say again. The bomb has a cell phone trigger?" Hotch says.

"That's right. All he has to do is call the number, and boom."

"Can you jam the signal?" 

"Not from here, no," I reply.

"The failsafe will still kick in. Same outcome- can't move 'em. Can't submerge 'em," Rossi says.

"It'll take us hours to get the gas turned off on the whole block. If we alert anyone, then the panic could set her and the bomb off."

"SWAT's on the radio with the bomb squad. They say our only chance is to get our hands on that cell phone. If we shut down the trigger, we can remove the charges."

"Morgan."

"Go ahead, Hotch."

"Does she have a cell phone with her?"

"I don't think so. I didn't see her pull one out. The bomber was setting this up while we were all up here. I think he's holding the stick."

"We're combing the block. He could be anywhere, though. Where's Lewis?"

"In the kitchen with the staff."

"Do not overreact. Do not rush. Simply give every patron their check and tell them there's been an unforeseen problem in the kitchen that cannot be resolved," Tara spoke to the wait staff. "Their dinner has been paid for and they should leave calmly. And at their earliest possible convenience. Got it? You, come with me. That table there, you leave alone."

"Look at that, there they go," Cat says.

"All we want to do-"

"Minimize the collateral damage. I get it. I'm not mad. It'll give me the cover I need to slip out. I just need to know it's clear, so do me a favor and tell your boss that nobody leaves until it's safe for me to."

"Reid, perimeter agents are pulling back. You have to let her go. Repeat- all agents, do not engage or pursue until the bomb is defused."

"Spencer..."

"You can leave. But you won't."

"I'm sorry?" 

"Double or nothing I can get you to sit back down."

"Spencer, what the fuck are-"

"Reid, what are you doing?" Hotch asks, squeezing my shoulder.

"Wow, now you're stalling," Cat says.

"You played your trump card, but I have one, too."

"Thanks for dinner. I had fun."

"I found your father."

"No, you didn't."

"Look at my face. Am I bluffing? I'll tell you where he is. But you need to sit back down and listen to the rest of my story."

"No. Tell me now. Or I'll-"

"Detonate the bomb? You're not gonna do that, Cat, because then you won't learn anything. You said you were good at your job because you think through every outcome. Well, guess what- so do I."

"All right. Finish the story."

"To prepare for this dinner, I had to learn everything about you, starting with your real name."

-three weeks ago-

"Foster care records locked, loaded and searchable," I say after hours of digging.

"According to the emails she sent me setting up tonight, her name is Cat," Spencer is tying his tie as he walks over. "So lets assume her name is Catherine."

"Give me more."

"Suspicious death for mom. And her dad most likely went away for manslaughter."

"Keep it coming."

"Rampant abuse. She would have been in a world of pain."

"Sadly, that does not rule out any Catherines."

"Her first kills were most likely in the foster environment. Cross-reference all those families the Catherine's went into with accidental deaths of foster dads, and focus on those that have multiple abuse complaints leveled against them."

"Ding."

"Catherine Adams. Daughter of Daniel Adams, who did, in fact, leave the country in 1987 but returned in 2012. Based on confidential records in rehabs and sober living houses, which, in turn, pointed to flop houses and soup kitchens. He couldn't put twenty-four hours together sober. And you can probably imagine my surprise when my wife and I discovered that he actually lives right here in D.C."

"Where?"

"It's not that simple. He was in bad shape when I found him."

"He didn't remember me?"

"The alcoholism shredded his brain. I'm sorry."

"You're not sorry. Sorry is what people say when they don't understand. Wait. Your mother- tell me."

"Is-is this part of the game?"

"No. The game's over."

"When I looked at her medical chart, it... it didn't make any sense. The medication that they gave her should have been helping. But I couldn't figure out what was making her so angry. So... I, uh, I went to see her, with my wife. The moment we walked in her room, I saw it. For three seconds... she didn't know who we were. I, um, I had her tested that morning, and I found out that night... that she had early onset of dementia. Most likely Alzheimer's."

"Did you test yourself? No, you didn't. You were too scared."

"Did you know?" Penelope asks Hotch.

"No."

"I knew about Diana," I said. "I didn't know he was thinking about testing himself."

"I thought I dodged a bullet when I turned thirty and didn't have a schizophrenic break like her, but, uh, this is somehow bigger and scarier because I can actually see it happening. All the memories that we used to share, are just dying. I can't stop it. I can't help her. All I can do is find people that I can help."

"Is that really why you showed up tonight? To help me? Do you know how many men have told me that they wanted to help me? How do you think that worked out for them?"

"Hotch, she just armed the bomb," JJ says.

"Hotch, we need to pull back," Rossi says.

"Oh, my god, oh, my god, oh, my god," Penelope says quickly.

"Copy. Morgan, get out of there."

"Hotch, we might have a lead here," Tara says.

"She hasn't touched anything to arm the bomb. That means the Bomber's here, somewhere in the restaurant," Derek adds.

"All right, if you can take him, do so, but the priority is evacuation."

"I'm not even sure it is a him. Cat mentioned something about gender bias, so what if that applied to the Bomber as well?"

"All right, she'd have to be in a position to maintain line of sight on Reid all night. Who do you see?"

"Look for anyone with their phone out. That's the detonator," Derek says. "Our woman will give herself away by looking over."

"You're right. You don't need my help. You don't need anyone's help. You are completely in control," Spencer says.

"I've got her. Blue dress. By the bar," Tara says.

"Hey, you know what, baby? Let's get out of here. I'm not really feeling this place," Derek answers.

"Really? I kind of liked it."

"I want to take you to a spot where we can do some dancing."

There's sounds of a brief struggle and a body hitting the bar. A moment later we hear JJ's voice and I let out a breath. I didn't even realize that I was holding. The bomb is disarmed, that's one less thing I have to worry about.

"Hotch, we're clear," JJ says.

"Spencer's not. Hotch!" I scream.

I feel like time slows down as I watch Cat stand up, pulling Spencer with her and holding her gun to his neck. I bite my lip on a sob hard enough that I eventually taste blood, and Penelope and Hotch's hands tighten a little. My heart is in my throat as I watch the scene unfolding on the screen. One wrong move from Derek or Tara and Spencer is dead. There's no way he could survive a gunshot from that close range. True, we'll end up arresting the bitch either way, but at what cost?

"Don't!" Cat says.

"FBI. Everybody stay calm, please," Derek says.

"We're gonna be smart about this and talk it out. Aren't we, Cat?" Tara asks.

"You guys, please don't provoke her," I choke out.

"That's up to you."

"Get everyone out of here," Spencer says. "Morgan, you too."

"Spencer! What are you doing?!" I snap softly.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Guess we're right back where we started," Cat says. "You and me with a gun."

"Reid, it's time."

"No!"

"We don't have a choice. We have to do it."

"Do what?" 

"Morgan, shut up."

"There's one thing he hasn't told you yet."

"That's not true. He's lying. Don't listen to him."

"What haven't you told me?" 

"Nothing. I've told you..."

"What do I not know?"

"Nothing. Nothing!"

"We brought your father here."

"Here? He's here?"

"He's right outside. Reid thought he needed every bargaining chip he could get."

"Morgan, I'm begging you, don't. Don't."

"Every bargaining chip he could get to convince you to do the right thing."

"How is this the right thing?"

"Your father killed your mother. And there's no statute of limitations on murder, so you really need to think about your options right now. You shoot him, I will kill you. Or if you surrender, you will live to testify against your father."

"That's not good enough."

"We can arrange it for the two of you to drive into custody together, and then you can remind him of who you are."

"If you give her this, she wins," Spencer says. "Don't do it."

"Spencer, please, shut up!!" I choke out a sob.

"Kid, I am trying to save your life. Now let me do that," Derek snaps. "They're bringing him in right now."

"You're really upset about this, aren't you?" Cat asks Spencer.

"This is what you wanted, isn't it, a chance to finally hurt the man who deserves it?"

"They all deserve it."

"He deserves it the most."

"Only if Spencer escorts me out."

"Deal," Spencer agrees.

Cat throws her gun and I choke out a sob. I hate being so far away from Spencer, not able to help him. All I want to do is have him back here and be in his arms. To have him away from Cat, lock this bitch up and throw away the key, at the very least. I watch Derek hand Spencer a pair of handcuffs, and he cuffs her arms behind her back. Then they walk toward the exit of the restaurant.

"Hotch?" Derek says.

"Yeah?"

"We're coming out."

"Okay, you're all clear. You want to go home?" Hotch asks Penelope and me.

"No. No way. Not without Spencer."

Penelope chokes up a sob and I wrap her in a hug, stroking her hair softly. She clings to me and I feel her shoulders shake. I murmur softly to her and rock her gently. Finally she lets go and grabs her things so Hotch can drive her home, and I run to the bullpen. I pace nervously, gnawing on my thumb and glancing at the clock. What was taking them so long? They were still in the city, and it's late. There shouldn't have still been traffic. The longer it takes the more nervous I get- did Cat somehow turn the tables? But finally after what seems like ages, I hear the door open and spin on my heel. My heart skips a beat as I see Spencer standing there and run into his arms. I feel his arms wrap around me as he curves his body a little. I cling to him until I stop shaking and then pull back to smack his arm.

"What the hell were you thinking?! She could have killed you!!"

"Hey, shh, I know. But she didn't. I'm right here."

"Can we go home? I'm exhausted, and I want to see my daughter."

"Yeah, of course. Let's go home."

Spencer wraps an arm around my shoulders as I wrap mine around his waist. He kisses the top of my head softly as we walk out. And things are good again. At least for a little while. Then shit hits the fan, and it's all because of Cat Adams.


End file.
